Andy Murray stormed to a 7-6(5), 6-2 straight sets victory over Nick Kyrgios in the semifinals of the Stuttgart Open on Saturday after the after the Australian lost his cool in the second set and said he was racially abused by a fan.
The 35-year-old Scot will face last year’s Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini on Sunday for a chance to win the 47th singles title of his career. It is Murray’s second ATP final of the year and 70th of his career.
After an entertaining opening set where there was nothing to separate the two players, Murray sealed it in the tiebreak after which Kyrgios broke his racket and earned a point penalty as well as a game penalty in the second set.
The Australian, who was constantly complaining to the umpire, then refused to continue playing, sitting in his chair until the supervisor came out and convinced him to finish the match.
A frustrated Kyrgios later said that he had retaliated after hearing a racial slur.
“When is this going to stop? Dealing with racial slurs from the crowd?” Kyrgios said in an Instagram post.
“I understand that my behaviour isn’t the best all the time — but ‘you little black sheep’, ‘shut up and play’ — little comments like this are not acceptable.
“When I retaliate to the crowd, I get penalised. This is messed up.”
Murray was sympathetic in his on-court interview, admitting that he did not have to work as hard in the second set after a “high quality” opener.
“Nick has the potential to be one of the best players in the world, there’s absolutely no question about that. But yeah, he obviously got very frustrated in the second set and made it a lot easier for me.
“But look, I’m happy to be in the final. I’ve played well this week and I’ve got a great opportunity against Matteo tomorrow.”
Murray’s only other final appearance this year came at the Sydney Open ahead of the Australian Open in January, but he was comfortably beaten by Aslan Karatsev.
His last singles title came at the Antwerp Open in 2019, months after undergoing hip surgery on an injury that almost caused him to retire.
Earlier on Saturday, Berrettini maintained his fine form on grass with a closely-fought 7-6(7), 7-6(5) victory over Germany’s Oscar Otte.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.